The performer enters the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a bit behind, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Those familiar with the boldly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in with her friend The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott possesses plenty to say, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. And, after watching the new multi-episode show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds even more insights about the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, she represents an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also new representative Maia. However, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting an emerging celebrity making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for the series emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. This represented an era that involved her grasp some big truths, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned about Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it today. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about LA residents juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). It would be tempting to produce a show about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult life that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she comments. “I think that young people have been through a lot – I’m mostly thinking of people younger than me, like my little sister, who went to college during Covid, so she had to come home, or my other sister who was doing school online.”|“The younger generation has faced significant
